Sokongan diperlukan oleh workers' rights leaders di China

China arrests workers' rights leaders

Michael Forsythe and Chris Buckley, The New York TimesDec 10, 2015

Guangzhou. Photo by Jakob Montrasio, Flickr Creative Commons

The police in southern China have arrested at least
three workers’ rights leaders last week, labour groups and activists
said on Saturday. The detentions come amid rising labour unrest in
southern China, one of the world’s most important manufacturing centers,
and are prompting concern that the Communist Party is extending its
latest crackdown on civil society to a new arena.

Zeng Feiyang, director of the Panyu Workers’ Center in Guangzhou, was
put under criminal detention said the Hong Kong-based nonprofit group China Labour Bulletin and several labour activists.

For the complete article of The New York Times, click here.Update Dec 16

According to China Labour Bulletin "there are
currently eight activists who are believed to be detained, either
formally or under some kind of house arrest. In addition to Zeng Feiyang; He Xiaobo, Zhu Xiaomei, Deng Xiaoming and Tang Jian are being formally held in detention centres in Guangdong, Peng Jiayong and Meng Han are also believed to be in detention, while Chen Huihai is being held at anunspecified location." The complete article.The Wall Street Journal has published an article on labour unrest in China, which provides some context to the recent crackdown.

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11 December, 2015

The Guangzhou authorities are citing “national security” concerns in order to prevent lawyers from seeing Zeng Feiyang (see photo below) and other detained labour activists.

There are currently eight activists who are believed to be detained,
either formally or under some kind of house arrest. In addition to Zeng Feiyang; He Xiaobo, Zhu Xiaomei, Deng Xiaoming and Tang Jian are being formally held in detention centres in Guangdong, Peng Jiayong and Meng Han are also believed to be in detention, while Chen Huihai is being held at an unspecified location.

Zeng’s lawyer, Cheng Zhunqiang, attempted to visit his client at the
Guangzhou No. 1 Detention Centre on Wednesday morning but was barred by
the police officers on duty. They claimed the Panyu District Public
Security Bureau (the unit responsible for Zeng’s case) had ordered them
to refuse the visit.

When Cheng pointed out that the police had no right to ban lawyers
from seeing their clients, the police changed their tune and said Zeng’s
case was a matter of national security. Cheng later wrote that he told the police:

How can the unit in charge of the case tell you
what to do? It is illegal. You, as civil servants, have an obligation to
disregard illegal orders. You despise the law and you despise the
lawyers. Your livelihood depends on the rule of law, and yet you
casually forfeit your rights and allow others to dictate to you.

After hours of protesting, a senior officer named Liu sat down with Cheng and reportedly told him:

What you have been saying is all right but we
still cannot let you meet with Zeng. There are some confidential files
in his case which you cannot see. You have two options now: negotiate
with the Panyu District Public Security Bureau or file a complaint to
our supervisors.

All the lawyers for those activists who are confirmed as being in
detention have encountered similar obstacles. However, they are
determined to carry on and find a way to visit their clients.

Meanwhile, pressure is building from the international trade union
movement, international human rights organizations and labour groups and
unions in Hong Kong to immediately release all the detained labour
activists in Guangdong